Chanukah Tunes

I don't know about you, but for me, Chanukah always brings with it those melodies that evoke memories of past and present. You know the like- like the golden oldies your grandparents sang (the old tune of Maoz Tzur, for example) to the hip hop rock the newest CD's transform Al Hanissim into.

There's the classic 'Sivvivon, Sov Sov Sov' or the 'I had a little dreidel...'. There's 'Chanukah (or Hannukah, depending on your generation and ideology) Oh Chanukah', and the english Maoz Tzur- Rock of Ages.

Somehow, my family can never get a proper tune going for Haneiros Hallalu- no matter which one we try, someone ends up forgetting it in the middle, and by the end, we're making up our own tunes.

And, it's a total blast to watch NBD on Mr. NMF's shoulders as he dances to 'Yevanim, Yevanim Nikb'tzu Alay...'. My family is joining us for this holiday, and it's a pleasure to hear my father and my husband join their voices together in these wonderful tunes.

I heard that Maoz Tzur is a German folk tune, also used by the Protestant church.
Well, in any case, it's been rumored that R' Moshe Feinstein had his own tune for it, since he didn't want to use a non-Jewish tune for this special song. It didn't really catch on though. Anyone know it?

Well, I'm back to frying latkes. Here's a link for the continuing verses of "I had a little dreidel." My favorites were:

'I have a little dreidel, I made it out of pasta; it got all tangled in my hair, and now they call me 'rasta''

'I have a little dreidle, I made it out of pot, and when it started spinning, I just sat and stared at it a lot. '

'I have a little dreidel, I made it out of shmaltz; it don't make healthy eatin' but, that dreidel sure can waltz !'

'I made a little dreidel in virtual reality. If you wear the right headgear, it's there for you to see.'

'I had a little dreidel, I made it out of clay; said a Kabbalistic blessing, and it got up and walked away.'

Rebbee Hill and Bedtime

NBD is 7 months old, and she falls nicely asleep at around 9 pm, making me a very happy mother. But, for older children, bedtime becomes an issue, mostly with the bedraggled and unhappy parent wishing for their child to fall asleep, and the child insisting that he/she will do no such thing.

One family that I know has 13 children, bli ayin hara. The lady of the house, besides for being a superb baalabusta, has also perfected a wonderful way to get her children to bed. She can't read a story to each child's taste, and frankly, she doesn't have the time to. So, she came up with a brilliant idea.

She purchases story tapes- you know, the good old Marvelous Middos Machine, Loshon Hara 911, Rebbe Alter, Rebbee Hill, all the Suki and Ding tapes, the Talking Coins, and so on. Then, she puts on the tape in each individual room, and the kids fall asleep listening to these master storytellers. She updates the tapes constantly, making sure that the kids are never bored. Oftentimes, they listen to it in installments, making it even more productive.

My family listened to tapes while in the car (I know, some people out there are saying- what's a tape?), but never before bed. Yet, these good old story tapes and CD's continue to be favorites of mine, even now.

Rebbee Hill is one of my personal favorites. He's dynamic, interesting, and delivers little bits of mussar throughout his tapes that are apropos for all ages. So, when I heard about this I was very excited. You should all check it out this Chol HaMoed- it sounds like it'll be awesome!